February 23, 2018 - EVENTFUL WEEKS

     This past week has been eventful, to say the least. Most life changing has been the death of Evangelist Billy Graham. His son says that they did not “lose him because we know where he is today”. He has graduated to glory. He is with Christ and as Mike Huckabee has said: “he is more alive today than he has ever been.”

      Many “modern day prophets” are saying that God has revealed to them that Billy Graham’s death will bring about a new era in the church. Some say that his passing means that Jesus will soon return. Others have said that his mantle will now rest on a number of preachers to bring renewed revival to the church. Regardless of these so called predictions, we do know that our nation has stopped once again to examine what Christ is doing among us today. And it is our opportunity to point them to Jesus and heaven.

      Another life changing event of the past week was the mass murder of seventeen in a high school in southern Florida. President Trump has held a series of meetings about what can be done to address the students of that school who are demanding that some action be taken. And it was just revealed that this school had a security agent on scene but he did nothing to prevent this tragedy. It is also being revealed that this young mass killer has been “crying out” for someone to listen to his hurts and frustrations to no avail. Could it have been that these same students who are calling for action may have prevented this whole tragedy by being sympathetic to this young man and at least listened to his heart’s cry rather than ignore and even combat his attitude and actions?

      Some asked “where was God while this was going on?" The answer is that we have rejected God, the Bible, prayer and the Ten Commandments from that area of our educational system. He is no longer welcomed. I spent several years as a pastoral counselor in the Perry Township Alternative School and heard this same type of cry from many young people there. At least one of these young people came to Bethel Community Church after I retired there as pastor only to have him rejected by the church because of his lifestyle. I am not sure what the answer is to our society’s problems. But I do know that there are people all around us everyday who are also crying out for someone to listen to their pain and to give them some type of sympathy and alternative. If we do not reach them, other tragedies are sure to follow.

      You have read on Facebook about the stories of our own family who have gone through some very threatening things this week. Gabe’s wife Jamie had a life threatening auto accident in Kyle, Texas. Thankfully she was spared serious injury although the car was totaled. Anna had her broken ankle set and a cast put on her leg this past week. And Dan had a couple of incidents on his mail route that could have been disastrous—one with a pit bull dog that bit him and another with a couple physically fighting on the street that he broke up.

      Romans 8 says: “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

      This tells me so clearly that I cannot evaluate God's love for me based on my circumstances alone. That is often our greatest temptation: "How could a loving God allow this to happen to me?" But the Lord never promised we would escape hardship, persecution, poverty or danger. In fact, He promised just the opposite. His promise is that His love for us would be greater than any and all circumstances we might have to endure. Jesus went to the cross and died an excruciating death. He didn't escape difficulties. He experienced them more than anyone could ever imagine! So, allow His death to settle any questions you may have about the love of God! Don't ever judge God's love for you based on circumstances alone. Rather evaluate your circumstances from God's point of view: Love. It's His main motive for everything that happens to you.